


Politely Curious

by Fandomtrashed13



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Austistic Character, Gen, Sibling Bonding, Stimming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-08-19 14:25:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16536302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fandomtrashed13/pseuds/Fandomtrashed13
Summary: Thesus asks his little brother some questions.





	Politely Curious

   When he was younger, his mother had pulled him aside and explained to him why Newt clapped his hands over his ears often or why he wasn't very responsive to certain things like the other kids. At the age of 10, Theseus learned that his brother just thought more differently than others did. Newt saw the world threw a pair of Spectrespecs; the same, but different. He preferred certain sounds and touches over others because some makes him bristle like an angry Niffler. He needed you to explain a few things to him because he took some things literally. He's only interested in certain things and likes to go on and on about them. Its usually about the creatures he finds in his textbooks, but sometimes its about history facts and the properties of wands. Theseus couldn't help but be surprised that they managed to get unicorn hair to help make wands. In his mind, unicorns seemed like prideful creatures who only revealed themselves to those who seemed worthy.

   Even though his mother had explained it to him, Theseus still couldn't wrap his head around the matter. It isn't until he's in his seventh year of Hogwarts and has gone home for Christmas did he realize that he has never asked Newt about the way he thought. Granted, it never came up what with school and exams and deciding on which position in the Ministry he should apply for, but still. He was the eldest, the one who was suppose to know his younger brother! Not knowing made Theseus feel as if he had missed the step down the stairs. But, then again he had been busy with so much. Plus, him and Newt’s conversations were the type you'd expect, inside jokes and swapping stories of their day, not talking about how eachothers minds work. Except for that one time they had stayed up so late that everything didn't feel real and they questioned everything from the ground they stood on to the stars up above.

   ' _Yeah, that was a wild night.'_

   Theseus looked around his room, both half messy and half organized. He knew that Newt's room would be in a similar state, but he didn't know what he was doing right now. Maybe today he could ask him some questions that has been eating at him.

   Theseus stood and crossed over the threshold before stopping before Newt's door. He knocked and heard a faint "Come in."

   Young Newt looked up from where he sat cross-legged on his bed. Infront of him was a book and a couple of wooden blocks of different sizes.

   "You busy?" Theseus asked. Newt shook his head and Theseus took this as an invitation to sit himself infront of him on the bed, jostling the wooden blocks slightly.

   "You wanna talk about something," Newt asked, placing a torn up piece of parchment to mark his place in his book.

   "Yeah," Theseus began before pausing. The words were not on his tongue at the moment and he needed to gather them. "You know how you're autistic?"

   Autistic. Their mother had scored through many medical books and asked dozen of strangers before finally finding the word that fit her youngest song. According to one of the many large dictionaries, autism is a mental condition, present during childhood and chatacerized by difficulty in communicating and forming relationships. In other words, it was the perfect word to describe himself, accoring to Newt. "This is me!" he had exclaimed that day, grinning widely. Theseus had hugged him and thanked whoever invented that word. If it made Newt happy, then he was content. After that, the went on with their day and accepted the fact that Newt was autistic.

   Now, his younger brother furrowed his brows slightly. "Yes," he said slowly.

   "I...never asked what being autistic was like," Theseus also said slowly. "And I'm curious about it."

   Newt stared at him for so long that he let out a defensive,"What?"

   "Nothing," the youngest Scamander answered. "Its just-you never asked that and this just surprised me."

   "Well, you're right. But right now I'm curious."

   "Why?"

   "Why what?"

   "Why now?"

   "I-I have some free time. You know, with exams and graduation and getting a job."

   "You've had free time before," Newt pointed out, picking up one of the wooden blocks and turning it around in his hand. "All those summers, at dinner, when we went downtown and stayed up really late."

   Theseus couldn't help but feel a small prickle of annoyance. Curse Newt and his memory. 

   "Well, now I'm taking a chance to get to know some things." He laid back until his back hit the wall the bed was pushed against and gestured to Newt. "Tell me something I don't know."

   For a moment, Newt just stared at him, brow furrowed. His eyes stared through his older brother who knew that he was thinking. The wooden block in his hands moved faster and faster until it slowed down to a moderate pace. Finally, Newt shifted his gave to Theseus who stared back at him expectantly. When he spoke, it was in a hesitant way.

   "Well-you know how sometimes I get really overwhelmed." At Theseus's nod, Newt continued. "That's because...everything becomes overwhelming in a way. Its all coming at me all at once and I can't process it all. Everythings all jumbled up and you know what's the worst part. I can't even move! So...that's why I need to be alone so that I can stop it."

   "That's why Mum stays outside your room," Theseus added, realization dawning on him as he remembered watching his mother talk through the door more than once.

   Newt nodded. "After it's over, Mum comes in and...tells me to breathe. In, out. And after that she'd ask me what caused it. One time, I went downtown all by myself and there was a crowd. I got pushed into it and...it became too much. Everyone was too loud. But its not only sound, sometimes its the lights or texture of somethings. Like cotton balls."

   "But cotton balls are soft."

   "No, they're not."

   "Yes, they are. They're made of cotton, Newt."

   "True, but the texture makes me want to throw up."

   "Fair. So, what do you do when Mum isn't there to calm you down."

   Here, Newt looked off to the side. "Just...wait for everything to calm down. Going into my room is good. I lock the door and shut the curtains which help. And touching the rug because its soft."

   "Not cotton ball soft?"

   A small chuckle. "No, thank goodness."

   Theseus allowed silence to fall between them before asking,"So...why do you always carry blocks around?"

   "I like how the feel. Along with the carpet and some of my clothes. And my scarf. Uh-I can't stand gloves and socks, though. They just don't sit well with me. But Helga and Nathaniel do!"

   "The new baby hippogriffs?" Helga and Nathaniel had been born two years ago from different mothers in the large barn in their backyard with the help of their mother. Both young hippogriffs had been inseperabe since birth and could be often seen playing with one another in the yard. Helga was spitfire, always roughhousing and had once knocked over a section of the fence while Nathaniel was clumsy, falling into his water bowl.

   Newt beamed. "Yeah. I don't know, I guess I prefer animals over humans."

   "What, you're going to live with them in a house the rest of your life?"

   "Yes." Newt looked so serious that Theseus could not help but let out a small laugh.

   "I wouldn't be surprised if you did," he said, shiftting himself slightly on the bed and messing with the sheets slightly.

 

   ~

 

   Years later, Theseus recieved a letter and a photo of his brother disappearing into a traveling suitcase and coming up with a goddamn Chizpurfle.

   His sides ached at the end of the day. 

**Author's Note:**

> Kinda dissapointed with myself for the ending but I ran out of juice.  
> -Spectrepecs are the glasses Luna wore in the Half Blood Prince.  
> -I read an article entitled How I Think as an Autistic Person to write this. The article is really interestig and I would highly recommend it  
> -I did the math and Newt and Theseus are 9 years apart.  
> -That part about the staying up late bit? Yeah thats happened to me more than once. It was surreal.  
> -I hate the texture of cottan balls with a burning passion.  
> -According to the Harry Potter fan-powered wiki, Newt's mother bred hippogriffs. Also, when he was young Newt would disember Horklumps, a magical creature that resembled pink mushrooms, in his room.
> 
> And on a personal note, I fine the autistic spectrum really fasciniating. I find the way the mind works very fasciniating and when I head about autism I was like "oh is it a learning disability" and then I did my research and now wish there were more proper representation in media cause autism is not a disease. Im looking at you anti-vaxxers. Like, give me a POC who has autism and is about to graduate college to pursue a job that is awesome or a musical that has an autistic character that sings a song about what autism is and whats it like while not turning it into a joke. Again, autism is not a disease, its the way people see the world and I dont under stand how people cant wrap their minds around it!!!  
> Sorry about the little rant. I wrote this because there has to be some autistic PotterHeads who are hufflepuffs and love animals more than people. And there has to be some people who are hella interested in the spectrum and give a big midle finger to those who oppress autistic individuals.  
> One thing I would like to mention is this movie called My Name is Khan. Its about a muslim man with autism who moves to the US and gets married. During his marriage, 9/11 occurs and with it the hate crimes that fell upon innocent people. Throughout the movie, Rizwan(the main character) is shown in the situations and its honestly a beautiful movie. I would highly recommend it.  
> Please let me know if my work of art has offended you in any way or has some mistakes. If it has be sure to let me know.  
> Have a good time, scouts.


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